Most men recognize how important it is to have a nice suit. Maybe you even have several. Whether you wear your suits to work or on dates, this high-end staple should make an impact for years to come.
Of course, suits are an investment. Most men spend at least $500 on a quality suit, with more refined options ranging in price from a thousand to several thousand dollars (a few even cost tens of thousands!). No matter how many suits you have, you want to make sure you get your money’s worth with each one.
To do this, you want to keep your suit looking sharp. But what if the crisp shoulders of your suit jackets keep sagging? Or maybe you’re frustrated that your suit pants are creased when you want to wear them.
Luckily, you can fix these issues if you care for your suits properly. With a few extra steps, every item in your closet can look polished for years to come.
Here, we’ll talk about the five most important steps you can take to preserve the longevity of your favorite suits.
The Importance of Ongoing Suit Care
You may wonder why it’s essential to care for your suits. Suits are carefully made in fine materials and are also highly-tailored, meaning that wrinkles or creases ruin the professionalism of your look.
What’s more, who wants to walk around in a stained or stinky suit?
Many Americans don’t know how to properly care for their garments, which was why the average American threw out 81 pounds of clothing in 2018. Some of the most common reasons clothing was ruined? Clothing that needed to be hung was stuffed into dressers, draped on wire hangers, or stains were left to sit too long.
Just think about how much waste could have been avoided if everyone knew how to make their clothing look good for longer.
Tip #1 – Rotate your suits.
If you wear your suit every day to work, you may wonder why it’s wearing out so quickly. A good rule of thumb is to wear a suit no more than twice a week; if you are wearing it more often, you likely want to invest in a few more.
Also, be sure to hang your suit up when you get it home. If you drop it onto a chair (or the floor), it will be wrinkled and impossible to put on later without steaming it. Nobody wants that kind of unnecessary work! Instead, air out your suit on a wood hanger in your closet (more about this later).
Specifically, suits need space in the closet to breathe, so be sure that you don’t stuff them in too closely to your other garments.
Tip #2 – Don’t overload your suit pockets.
Every suit worth its salt comes tailored – to a tee. So, don’t harm your suit’s silhouette by overloading the pockets with coins, heavy keys, or other odds and ends. If you do, you may stretch out the suit’s pocket liners, which eventually can alter the suit’s shape in general.
Tip #3 – Keep your closet free of moths.
If your favorite t-shirt gets moth holes in it, that’s too bad. It’s another matter if a suit that costs you as much as a month’s rent becomes a moth’s best friend!
So, be sure to outfit your closet with cedar blocks or bags. Not only is cedar a moth repellent, but it also removes excess moisture in your closet that can harm certain fabric types.
Tip #4 – Clean your suit, so you don’t have to dry clean too often.
While it’s necessary to have your suits dry cleaned periodically, you don’t want to overdo it. In fact, Bespoke Unit recommends dry cleaning a suit no more than twice a year.
Instead, keep your suit fresh by regularly brushing it to remove dirt and debris that it may have picked up after a day on the town. If your suit smells a little after you’ve worn it, you can also use a steamer to remove odor and minor stains.
Tip #5: Invest in quality suit hangers
One of the most commonly overlooked facets of suit care is the hanger. If you find that your suit jackets have shoulder creases or sagging, we can bet that you’ve hung them up on plastic or wire suit hangers.
Plastic hangers come designed to be versatile, but they cannot support the weight of a suit jacket. Wire hangers are just as bad. High-end suit designer Alan Katzman talks about why hangers in these materials such a problem are:
“Unlike the dreaded wire versions, hangers with wide shoulders and a broader overall design prolong a garment’s life by preventing sagging or stretching,” he says.
Wood hangers are the only type of hangers that have the structure Katzman mentions. The heft of a wooden hanger mimics the shape of a person’s shoulders, which is what you’re looking for when hanging. What’s more, wood hangers, like these men’s suit hangers from Butler Luxury, hold up heavy materials much better than other materials.
You also don’t want to hang your suit pants on a cheap hanger. Instead, luxury hangers with bars wrapped in velvet are a much better bet. Not only will the pants stay in place instead of falling to the floor, but this type of bar also ensures the garment will not be creased. Butler Luxury’s wood hangers with velvet bars are much stronger alternatives to other hanger types or folding the pants into a drawer.
Suit Care Begins With Proper Storage
All of these tactics focus on how you can extend the life of your suit. The steps are simple: don’t wear your suit too much, stuff it full of objects, brush and steam it regularly, and hang it on a wood hanger. All of these steps only take a few extra seconds but make your suit look polished and professional for years.
If you’re ready to upgrade your closet with high-end suit hangers, check out Butler Luxury’s offerings today!
Mike Cregan Bio
20 years ago Mike Cregan embarked on a mission to create a state of the art hanger. His passion drove him to open Butler Luxury, an online store featuring luxury hangers for the discerning fashion enthusiast.
Mike’s hangers feature a highly-functional yet beautiful aesthetic, built from the finest wood products. These sturdy accessories include solutions for suits, shirts, pants, and skirts.
Butler Luxury’s hangers enjoy a high-end clientele, including top designer brands, tailoring houses on Savile Row, and 5-star hotels such as The Dorchester, Claridge’s, The Connaught, and The Savoy.
For the first time since their founding many years ago, Butler Luxury is offering their luxury hanger inventory directly to the public. Explore their collection today at www.butlerluxury.com.